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Robinsons Bookshop

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The Worst Company I've Ever Worked For - Anonymous employee Robinsons Bookshop Employee Review

1.0
Jul 13, 2018
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

I've made some really good friends The teams are really close because we all have to go through the same awful treatment from the co-owner

Cons

Where do i even begin? I was a store manager and the phone calls i would get (almost one every 30 mins) would almost reduce me to tears. The language used by the co-owner was aggressive and the tone was always meant to insult. I witnessed first-hand how awful the co-owner is, it was bullying in the worst degree and because she co-owns the company there's nothing to do but leave. She watched me and my employees over the security cameras in the store and would call maybe 5 times a day to order us to do something else or order us to be aware that she was watching and make sure we were 'doing the right things'. She would watch us over the cameras then call and order me to tell off one of my employees because she didn't like what they were doing. I was made to come in before hours and stay back to clean and was not paid. Nothing I ever did was good enough for them. I pushed myself to my limits and there was no recognition. The micro-managing drove us all mad. I ended up being fired and whilst you might think that I am trying to get revenge on the company i am not. What they did was wrong. I was fired without notice and had no idea what was happening. I had to cancel the lease on my apartment and move in with my parents. I wouldn't have cared that I was fired as I was looking for a new job but there were no pre-meeting or reviews on my performance or anything. I'm friends with a lot of the other managers still as we've got a common enemy and I'm not the only one who has been fired without a moments notice or any warning. I HIGHLY RECOMMEND NOT WORKING FOR THIS COMPANY!!! You will end up regretting it in the long run! I have been working in bookstores for a long time and have never had any complaints on my work ethic or personality and in my interview i was told that i would be a perfect fit for the company so it was a huge surprise to be fired on the spot. I was hired as a store manager as was the description on the job title at the interview but when i was hired i was told i was a store supervisor NOT a manager. All the store supervisors, no matter of their experience was a supervisor, we didn't have the same control as a manager and therefore we felt inferior. I didn't have the power to do anything in my store and therefore was at the mercy of being ordered around by the co-owner. That's why they're THE WORST COMPANY TO WORK FOR!!

Explore other reviews about Robinsons Bookshop

1.0
Nov 29, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Best coworkers ever, you'll meet lifelong friends suffering in this hell together

Cons

- Owner is pure evil and lives to bully her staff. - Stores have to promote far-right books and get almost no stock of Indigenous/BIPOC authors. - Not allowed to celebrate Pride Month. Making our own displays was cause for disciplinary action. - Owner blames low sales on managers instead of her own divisive politics and the increasing price of the books. - Creativity is not allowed, any displays you want to make that are not ordered by the owner must be removed, even if they are generating sales. - Senior casuals do not get level 3 pay rates despite opening and closing regularly. Seriously just work at literally any other place at this point.

2
3.0
Sep 11, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Working with books and lovely customers! Author and book events were a blast to host

Cons

Ineffective upper management. Problematic CEO Unclear direction for in store expectations Lack of staff to cover hours and inflexibility in allowing rostering to be completed internally within stores - thus rosters were created unfairly/not aware of daily staffing needs

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